Riyadh job fair creates thousands of opportunities

Deputy Labor Minister for Planning and Development Abdullah Al-Haqabani opened yesterday the 3rd Saudi Job Fair organized by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

Deputy Labor Minister for Planning and Development Abdullah Al-Haqabani opened yesterday the 3rd Saudi Job Fair organized by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

The three-day fair is expected to create more than 5,000 administrative and technical job opportunities for young Saudi job seekers. More than 60 Saudi companies are participating in the fair.

After opening the fair, Al-Haqabani toured the pavilions of various Saudi companies and organizations. Speaking to reporters, he said the ministry has established a strategic partnership with the private sector to create as many job opportunities as possible for young Saudi men and women graduates.

He noted that the ministry started taking advantage of its new initiative entitled “The National Labor Market Observatory.”

“The observatory presents a clear picture of the labor market, and this enables the officials concerned to take appropriate decisions after closely watching the market. The observatory helped the ministry to get an exact picture of the job seekers on the basis of information supplied by the education and training sectors, especially the two ministries of education.”

Labor Minister Adel Fakeih recently said the Kingdom needs to create 3 million job opportunities by 2015, and 6 million by 2030. He noted that the observatory would be a comprehensive database of 66 key labor market indicators. According to the minister, the “dashboard” initiative will help the government to track and understand labor market statistics, performance and outcome. “It will be a key tool for fact-based decision-making by both researchers and policy-makers,” he added.

RCCI organizes the fair as part of educating the young Saudi men and women job seekers about various job requirements, including proficiency and skills. It also aims to encourage companies and organizations to offer jobs for qualified Saudis, especially people with special needs. The fair is organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, Human Resources Development Fund and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.